Develop Reference

Multiplicative persistence using recursion

I was trying to make a function that calculates the multiplicative persistence on my own.
It works when I pass in a number that has a multiplicative persistence value of 2 or less.
But when passing in a number whose multiplicative persistence is more than 2, it is returning an incorrect value.
Here is the function I wrote:
function persistence(num) {
let res = 10
let count=0
const helper = (number)=>{
res=1
const digits = number.toString().split('')
for(let digit of digits){
res = res* Number(digit)
}
count++
console.log(res,count)
return
}
if(num<10) return 0
if(res>=10){
if(count===0) helper(num)
helper(res)
}
return count
}

You can implement the digit multiplication by using a reduce; then it is simply a matter of returning either 0 if num < 10 or 1 + persistence(prod) if num > 10:
const persistence = (num) => {
if (num < 10) return 0
const prod = num.toString().split('').reduce((acc, d) => acc * d, 1)
return 1 + persistence(prod)
}
console.log(persistence(5))
console.log(persistence(437))
console.log(persistence(1379))

How could i write out each individual number as well as the asterisk symbol when calculating the factorial of a number?

I'm stuck on a problem that requires me to display the full workings of a factorial function, for example, if the user wanted to workout 6!, i would need to display: 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 720. Would i need to use an array for such?
This is what i have so far in order to workout the factorized value of any user given number, although this only outputs the final value, and not the fully expanded working out as i have shown above:
(the variable number contains the user input);
var f = [];
function factorizeFunction(number) { //this is the function that does the factorization calculations
if (number == 0 || number == 1)
return 1;
if (f[number] > 0)
return f[number];
return f[number] = factorizeFunction(number-1) * number;
}
document.getElementById("factorialTest").innerHTML = factorizeFunction(number);
any help on this would be appreciated!

One option is, on each iteration, push to an array which is passed down through the recursive call (or created on the initial call). At the end, return the array, joined by *, and also the sum of the array:
function factorizeFunction(number, arr = []) { //this is the function that does the factorization calculations
if (number == 0 || number == 1) arr.push(number);
else {
arr.push(number);
factorizeFunction(number - 1, arr);
}
return arr.join(' * ') + ' = ' + arr.reduce((a, b) => a * b, 1);
}
document.getElementById("factorialTest").innerHTML = factorizeFunction(5);
<div id="factorialTest"></div>

Use map and join methods.
const factorString = num => {
const nums = new Array(num).fill(0).map((_, i) => num - i);
let res = 1;
nums.forEach(x => res *= x);
return `${nums.join(' * ')} = ${res}`;
}
console.log(factorString(6))

You could change the return signature of the function and expect an array of an array with the factors and the product.
function factorize(number) {
if (number === 0 || number === 1) return [[1], 1];
var [factors, product] = factorize(number - 1);
return [[...factors, number], product * number];
}
console.log(factorize(5));

Adding two numbers JS

I want to add two numbers from range 10-99,for example:
Input:16
Output:1+6=7
Input:99
Output:18
function digital_root(n) {
var z = n.toString().length;
if (z == 2) {
var x = z[0] + z[1]
return x;
}
}
console.log( digital_root(16) );
Output from this code is NaN.What should I correct?

You can try this:
function digital_root(n) {
var z = n.toString();
//use length here
if (z.length == 2) {
//convert to int
var x = parseInt(z[0]) + parseInt(z[1]);
return x;
} else {
return "not possible!";
}
}
console.log( digital_root(16) );
console.log( digital_root(99) );
console.log( digital_root(999) );

Use split to split the string in half and add the two using parseInt to convert to a number.
const sum = (s) => (''+s).split('').reduce((a,b) => parseInt(a)+parseInt(b))
↑ ↑ ↑ ↑
our coerce split sum
function to string in two both
Here a test :
const sum = (s) => (''+s).split('').reduce((a,b) => parseInt(a)+parseInt(b))
console.log(sum(12))

There are several approaches to sum digits of a number. You can convert it to a string but IDK if thats neccesary at all. You can do it with numerical operations.
var input = 2568,
sum = 0;
while (input) {
sum += input % 10;
input = Math.floor(input / 10);
}
console.log(sum);

Here's a fun short way to do it:
const number = 99
const temp = number.toString().split('')
const res = temp.reduce((a, c) => a + parseInt(c), 0) // 18
1.) Convert number to string
2.) Separate into individual numbers
3.) Use reduce to sum the numbers.

Your way would be the iterational way to solve this problem, but you can also use a recursive way.
Iterative solution (Imperative)
n.toString() Create String from number.
.split("") split string into chars.
.reduce(callback, startValue) reduces an array to a single value by applying the callback function to every element and updating the startValue.
(s, d) => s + parseInt(d) callback function which parses the element to an integer and adds it to s (the startValue).
0 startValue.
Recursive solution (Functional)
condition?then:else short-hand if notation.
n<10 only one digit => just return it.
n%10 the last digit of the current number (1234%10 = 4).
digital_root_recurse(...) call the function recursivly.
Math.floor(n / 10) Divide by 10 => shift dcimal point to left (1234 => 123)
... + ... add the last digit and the return value (digital root) of n/10 (1234 => 4 + root(123)).
function digital_root_string(n) {
return n.toString().split("").reduce((s, d) => s + parseInt(d), 0);
}
function digital_root_recurse(n) {
return n < 10 ? n : n % 10 + digital_root_recurse(Math.floor(n / 10));
}
console.log(digital_root_string(16));
console.log(digital_root_string(99));
console.log(digital_root_recurse(16));
console.log(digital_root_recurse(99));

The issue in your code is that you stored the length of n into z. The length is an integer, so both z[0] and [1] are undefined. The solution is to store the string into another variable and use that instead of z.
function digital_root(n) {
n = n.toString();
var l = n.length;
if (l === 2) {
return parseInt(n[0], 10) + parseInt(n[1], 10);
}
}
console.log( digital_root(16) );

Simply use var x = parseInt(n/10) + (n%10); and it will work for you.
function digital_root(n) {
var z = n.toString().length;
if (z == 2) {
var x = parseInt(n/10) + (n%10);
return x;
}
}
console.log( digital_root(16) );
console.log( digital_root(99) );
console.log( digital_root(62) );

Convert input to string, split it, convert each item back to number and sum them all:
function digital_root(n) {
return String(n).split('').map(Number).reduce((a,b) => a + b)
}
const result = digital_root(99);
console.log(result);

Get decimal portion of a number with JavaScript

I have float numbers like 3.2 and 1.6.
I need to separate the number into the integer and decimal part. For example, a value of 3.2 would be split into two numbers, i.e. 3 and 0.2
Getting the integer portion is easy:
n = Math.floor(n);
But I am having trouble getting the decimal portion.
I have tried this:
remainder = n % 2; //obtem a parte decimal do rating
But it does not always work correctly.
The previous code has the following output:
n = 3.1 // gives remainder = 1.1
What I am missing here?

Use 1, not 2.
js> 2.3 % 1
0.2999999999999998

var decimal = n - Math.floor(n)
Although this won't work for minus numbers so we might have to do
n = Math.abs(n); // Change to positive
var decimal = n - Math.floor(n)

You could convert to string, right?
n = (n + "").split(".");

How is 0.2999999999999998 an acceptable answer? If I were the asker I would want an answer of .3. What we have here is false precision, and my experiments with floor, %, etc indicate that Javascript is fond of false precision for these operations. So I think the answers that are using conversion to string are on the right track.
I would do this:
var decPart = (n+"").split(".")[1];
Specifically, I was using 100233.1 and I wanted the answer ".1".

Here's how I do it, which I think is the most straightforward way to do it:
var x = 3.2;
int_part = Math.trunc(x); // returns 3
float_part = Number((x-int_part).toFixed(2)); // return 0.2

A simple way of doing it is:
var x = 3.2;
var decimals = x - Math.floor(x);
console.log(decimals); //Returns 0.20000000000000018
Unfortunately, that doesn't return the exact value. However, that is easily fixed:
var x = 3.2;
var decimals = x - Math.floor(x);
console.log(decimals.toFixed(1)); //Returns 0.2
You can use this if you don't know the number of decimal places:
var x = 3.2;
var decimals = x - Math.floor(x);
var decimalPlaces = x.toString().split('.')[1].length;
decimals = decimals.toFixed(decimalPlaces);
console.log(decimals); //Returns 0.2

Language independent way:
var a = 3.2;
var fract = a * 10 % 10 /10; //0.2
var integr = a - fract; //3
note that it correct only for numbers with one fractioanal lenght )

You can use parseInt() function to get the integer part than use that to extract the decimal part
var myNumber = 3.2;
var integerPart = parseInt(myNumber);
var decimalPart = myNumber - integerPart;
Or you could use regex like:
splitFloat = function(n){
const regex = /(\d*)[.,]{1}(\d*)/;
var m;
if ((m = regex.exec(n.toString())) !== null) {
return {
integer:parseInt(m[1]),
decimal:parseFloat(`0.${m[2]}`)
}
}
}

The following works regardless of the regional settings for decimal separator... on the condition only one character is used for a separator.
var n = 2015.15;
var integer = Math.floor(n).toString();
var strungNumber = n.toString();
if (integer.length === strungNumber.length)
return "0";
return strungNumber.substring(integer.length + 1);
It ain't pretty, but it's accurate.

If precision matters and you require consistent results, here are a few propositions that will return the decimal part of any number as a string, including the leading "0.". If you need it as a float, just add var f = parseFloat( result ) in the end.
If the decimal part equals zero, "0.0" will be returned. Null, NaN and undefined numbers are not tested.
1. String.split
var nstring = (n + ""),
narray = nstring.split("."),
result = "0." + ( narray.length > 1 ? narray[1] : "0" );
2. String.substring, String.indexOf
var nstring = (n + ""),
nindex = nstring.indexOf("."),
result = "0." + (nindex > -1 ? nstring.substring(nindex + 1) : "0");
3. Math.floor, Number.toFixed, String.indexOf
var nstring = (n + ""),
nindex = nstring.indexOf("."),
result = ( nindex > -1 ? (n - Math.floor(n)).toFixed(nstring.length - nindex - 1) : "0.0");
4. Math.floor, Number.toFixed, String.split
var nstring = (n + ""),
narray = nstring.split("."),
result = (narray.length > 1 ? (n - Math.floor(n)).toFixed(narray[1].length) : "0.0");
Here is a jsPerf link: https://jsperf.com/decpart-of-number/
We can see that proposition #2 is the fastest.

A good option is to transform the number into a string and then split it.
// Decimal number
let number = 3.2;
// Convert it into a string
let string = number.toString();
// Split the dot
let array = string.split('.');
// Get both numbers
// The '+' sign transforms the string into a number again
let firstNumber = +array[0]; // 3
let secondNumber = +array[1]; // 2
In one line of code
let [firstNumber, secondNumber] = [+number.toString().split('.')[0], +number.toString().split('.')[1]];

Depending the usage you will give afterwards, but this simple solution could also help you.
Im not saying its a good solution, but for some concrete cases works
var a = 10.2
var c = a.toString().split(".")
console.log(c[1] == 2) //True
console.log(c[1] === 2) //False
But it will take longer than the proposed solution by #Brian M. Hunt
(2.3 % 1).toFixed(4)

I am using:
var n = -556.123444444;
var str = n.toString();
var decimalOnly = 0;
if( str.indexOf('.') != -1 ){ //check if has decimal
var decimalOnly = parseFloat(Math.abs(n).toString().split('.')[1]);
}
Input: -556.123444444
Result: 123444444

You could convert it to a string and use the replace method to replace the integer part with zero, then convert the result back to a number :
var number = 123.123812,
decimals = +number.toString().replace(/^[^\.]+/,'0');

n = Math.floor(x);
remainder = x % 1;

Math functions are faster, but always returns not native expected values.
Easiest way that i found is
(3.2+'').replace(/^[-\d]+\./, '')

The best way to avoid mathematical imprecision is to convert to a string, but ensure that it is in the "dot" format you expect by using toLocaleString:
function getDecimals(n) {
// Note that maximumSignificantDigits defaults to 3 so your decimals will be rounded if not changed.
const parts = n.toLocaleString('en-US', { maximumSignificantDigits: 18 }).split('.')
return parts.length > 1 ? Number('0.' + parts[1]) : 0
}
console.log(getDecimals(10.58))

You can simply use parseInt() function to help, example:
let decimal = 3.2;
let remainder = decimal - parseInt(decimal);
document.write(remainder);

I had a case where I knew all the numbers in question would have only one decimal and wanted to get the decimal portion as an integer so I ended up using this kind of approach:
var number = 3.1,
decimalAsInt = Math.round((number - parseInt(number)) * 10); // returns 1
This works nicely also with integers, returning 0 in those cases.

Although I am very late to answer this, please have a look at the code.
let floatValue = 3.267848;
let decimalDigits = floatValue.toString().split('.')[1];
let decimalPlaces = decimalDigits.length;
let decimalDivider = Math.pow(10, decimalPlaces);
let fractionValue = decimalDigits/decimalDivider;
let integerValue = floatValue - fractionValue;
console.log("Float value: "+floatValue);
console.log("Integer value: "+integerValue);
console.log("Fraction value: "+fractionValue)

I like this answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/4512317/1818723 just need to apply float point fix
function fpFix(n) {
return Math.round(n * 100000000) / 100000000;
}
let decimalPart = 2.3 % 1; //0.2999999999999998
let correct = fpFix(decimalPart); //0.3
Complete function handling negative and positive
function getDecimalPart(decNum) {
return Math.round((decNum % 1) * 100000000) / 100000000;
}
console.log(getDecimalPart(2.3)); // 0.3
console.log(getDecimalPart(-2.3)); // -0.3
console.log(getDecimalPart(2.17247436)); // 0.17247436
P.S. If you are cryptocurrency trading platform developer or banking system developer or any JS developer ;) please apply fpFix everywhere. Thanks!

2021 Update
Optimized version that tackles precision (or not).
// Global variables.
const DEFAULT_PRECISION = 16;
const MAX_CACHED_PRECISION = 20;
// Helper function to avoid numerical imprecision from Math.pow(10, x).
const _pow10 = p => parseFloat(`1e+${p}`);
// Cache precision coefficients, up to a precision of 20 decimal digits.
const PRECISION_COEFS = new Array(MAX_CACHED_PRECISION);
for (let i = 0; i !== MAX_CACHED_PRECISION; ++i) {
PRECISION_COEFS[i] = _pow10(i);
}
// Function to get a power of 10 coefficient,
// optimized for both speed and precision.
const pow10 = p => PRECISION_COEFS[p] || _pow10(p);
// Function to trunc a positive number, optimized for speed.
// See: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38702724/math-floor-vs-math-trunc-javascript
const trunc = v => (v < 1e8 && ~~v) || Math.trunc(v);
// Helper function to get the decimal part when the number is positive,
// optimized for speed.
// Note: caching 1 / c or 1e-precision still leads to numerical errors.
// So we have to pay the price of the division by c.
const _getDecimals = (v = 0, precision = DEFAULT_PRECISION) => {
const c = pow10(precision); // Get precision coef.
const i = trunc(v); // Get integer.
const d = v - i; // Get decimal.
return Math.round(d * c) / c;
}
// Augmenting Number proto.
Number.prototype.getDecimals = function(precision) {
return (isFinite(this) && (precision ? (
(this < 0 && -_getDecimals(-this, precision))
|| _getDecimals(this, precision)
) : this % 1)) || 0;
}
// Independent function.
const getDecimals = (input, precision) => (isFinite(input) && (
precision ? (
(this < 0 && -_getDecimals(-this, precision))
|| _getDecimals(this, precision)
) : this % 1
)) || 0;
// Tests:
const test = (value, precision) => (
console.log(value, '|', precision, '-->', value.getDecimals(precision))
);
test(1.001 % 1); // --> 0.0009999999999998899
test(1.001 % 1, 16); // --> 0.000999999999999
test(1.001 % 1, 15); // --> 0.001
test(1.001 % 1, 3); // --> 0.001
test(1.001 % 1, 2); // --> 0
test(-1.001 % 1, 16); // --> -0.000999999999999
test(-1.001 % 1, 15); // --> -0.001
test(-1.001 % 1, 3); // --> -0.001
test(-1.001 % 1, 2); // --> 0

After looking at several of these, I am now using...
var rtnValue = Number(7.23);
var tempDec = ((rtnValue / 1) - Math.floor(rtnValue)).toFixed(2);

Floating-point decimal sign and number format can be dependent from country (.,), so independent solution, which preserved floating point part, is:
getFloatDecimalPortion = function(x) {
x = Math.abs(parseFloat(x));
let n = parseInt(x);
return Number((x - n).toFixed(Math.abs((""+x).length - (""+n).length - 1)));
}
– it is internationalized solution, instead of location-dependent:
getFloatDecimalPortion = x => parseFloat("0." + ((x + "").split(".")[1]));
Solution desription step by step:
parseFloat() for guaranteeing input cocrrection
Math.abs() for avoiding problems with negative numbers
n = parseInt(x) for getting decimal part
x - n for substracting decimal part
We have now number with zero decimal part, but JavaScript could give us additional floating part digits, which we do not want
So, limit additional digits by calling toFixed() with count of digits in floating part of original float number x. Count is calculated as difference between length of original number x and number n in their string representation.

This function splits float number into integers and returns it in array:
function splitNumber(num)
{
num = (""+num).match(/^(-?[0-9]+)([,.][0-9]+)?/)||[];
return [ ~~num[1], +(0+num[2])||0 ];
}
console.log(splitNumber(3.02)); // [ 3, 0.2 ]
console.log(splitNumber(123.456)); // [ 123, 0.456 ]
console.log(splitNumber(789)); // [ 789, 0 ]
console.log(splitNumber(-2.7)); // [ -2, 0.7 ]
console.log(splitNumber("test")); // [ 0, 0 ]
You can extend it to only return existing numbers and null if no number exists:
function splitNumber(num)
{
num = (""+num).match(/^(-?[0-9]+)([,.][0-9]+)?/);
return [ num ? ~~num[1] : null, num && num[2] ? +(0 + num[2]) : null ];
}
console.log(splitNumber(3.02)); // [ 3, 0.02 ]
console.log(splitNumber(123.456)); // [ 123, 0.456 ]
console.log(splitNumber(789)); // [ 789, null ]
console.log(splitNumber(-2.7)); // [ -2, 0.7 ]
console.log(splitNumber("test")); // [ null, null ]

You can also truncate the number
function decimals(val) {
const valStr = val.toString();
const valTruncLength = String(Math.trunc(val)).length;
const dec =
valStr.length != valTruncLength
? valStr.substring(valTruncLength + 1)
: "";
return dec;
}
console.log("decimals: ", decimals(123.654321));
console.log("no decimals: ", decimals(123));

The following function will return an array which will have 2 elements. The first element will be the integer part and the second element will be the decimal part.
function splitNum(num) {
num = num.toString().split('.')
num[0] = Number(num[0])
if (num[1]) num[1] = Number('0.' + num[1])
else num[1] = 0
return num
}
//call this function like this
let num = splitNum(3.2)
console.log(`Integer part is ${num[0]}`)
console.log(`Decimal part is ${num[1]}`)
//or you can call it like this
let [int, deci] = splitNum(3.2)
console.log('Intiger part is ' + int)
console.log('Decimal part is ' + deci)

For example for add two numbers
function add(number1, number2) {
let decimal1 = String(number1).substring(String(number1).indexOf(".") + 1).length;
let decimal2 = String(number2).substring(String(number2).indexOf(".") + 1).length;
let z = Math.max(decimal1, decimal2);
return (number1 * Math.pow(10, z) + number2 * Math.pow(10, z)) / Math.pow(10, z);
}

float a=3.2;
int b=(int)a; // you'll get output b=3 here;
int c=(int)a-b; // you'll get c=.2 value here

How can I pad a value with leading zeros?

What is the recommended way to zerofill a value in JavaScript? I imagine I could build a custom function to pad zeros on to a typecasted value, but I'm wondering if there is a more direct way to do this?
Note: By "zerofilled" I mean it in the database sense of the word (where a 6-digit zerofilled representation of the number 5 would be "000005").

I can't believe all the complex answers on here... Just use this:
var zerofilled = ('0000'+n).slice(-4);
let n = 1
var zerofilled = ('0000'+n).slice(-4);
console.log(zerofilled)

Simple way. You could add string multiplication for the pad and turn it into a function.
var pad = "000000";
var n = '5';
var result = (pad+n).slice(-pad.length);
As a function,
function paddy(num, padlen, padchar) {
var pad_char = typeof padchar !== 'undefined' ? padchar : '0';
var pad = new Array(1 + padlen).join(pad_char);
return (pad + num).slice(-pad.length);
}
var fu = paddy(14, 5); // 00014
var bar = paddy(2, 4, '#'); // ###2

Since ECMAScript 2017 we have padStart:
const padded = (.1 + "").padStart(6, "0");
console.log(`-${padded}`);
Before ECMAScript 2017
With toLocaleString:
var n=-0.1;
var res = n.toLocaleString('en', {minimumIntegerDigits:4,minimumFractionDigits:2,useGrouping:false});
console.log(res);

I actually had to come up with something like this recently.
I figured there had to be a way to do it without using loops.
This is what I came up with.
function zeroPad(num, numZeros) {
var n = Math.abs(num);
var zeros = Math.max(0, numZeros - Math.floor(n).toString().length );
var zeroString = Math.pow(10,zeros).toString().substr(1);
if( num < 0 ) {
zeroString = '-' + zeroString;
}
return zeroString+n;
}
Then just use it providing a number to zero pad:
> zeroPad(50,4);
"0050"
If the number is larger than the padding, the number will expand beyond the padding:
> zeroPad(51234, 3);
"51234"
Decimals are fine too!
> zeroPad(51.1234, 4);
"0051.1234"
If you don't mind polluting the global namespace you can add it to Number directly:
Number.prototype.leftZeroPad = function(numZeros) {
var n = Math.abs(this);
var zeros = Math.max(0, numZeros - Math.floor(n).toString().length );
var zeroString = Math.pow(10,zeros).toString().substr(1);
if( this < 0 ) {
zeroString = '-' + zeroString;
}
return zeroString+n;
}
And if you'd rather have decimals take up space in the padding:
Number.prototype.leftZeroPad = function(numZeros) {
var n = Math.abs(this);
var zeros = Math.max(0, numZeros - n.toString().length );
var zeroString = Math.pow(10,zeros).toString().substr(1);
if( this < 0 ) {
zeroString = '-' + zeroString;
}
return zeroString+n;
}
Cheers!
XDR came up with a logarithmic variation that seems to perform better.
WARNING: This function fails if num equals zero (e.g. zeropad(0, 2))
function zeroPad (num, numZeros) {
var an = Math.abs (num);
var digitCount = 1 + Math.floor (Math.log (an) / Math.LN10);
if (digitCount >= numZeros) {
return num;
}
var zeroString = Math.pow (10, numZeros - digitCount).toString ().substr (1);
return num < 0 ? '-' + zeroString + an : zeroString + an;
}
Speaking of performance, tomsmeding compared the top 3 answers (4 with the log variation). Guess which one majorly outperformed the other two? :)

Modern browsers now support padStart, you can simply now do:
string.padStart(maxLength, "0");
Example:
string = "14";
maxLength = 5; // maxLength is the max string length, not max # of fills
res = string.padStart(maxLength, "0");
console.log(res); // prints "00014"
number = 14;
maxLength = 5; // maxLength is the max string length, not max # of fills
res = number.toString().padStart(maxLength, "0");
console.log(res); // prints "00014"

Here's what I used to pad a number up to 7 characters.
("0000000" + number).slice(-7)
This approach will probably suffice for most people.
Edit: If you want to make it more generic you can do this:
("0".repeat(padding) + number).slice(-padding)
Edit 2: Note that since ES2017 you can use String.prototype.padStart:
number.toString().padStart(padding, "0")

Unfortunately, there are a lot of needless complicated suggestions for this problem, typically involving writing your own function to do math or string manipulation or calling a third-party utility. However, there is a standard way of doing this in the base JavaScript library with just one line of code. It might be worth wrapping this one line of code in a function to avoid having to specify parameters that you never want to change like the local name or style.
var amount = 5;
var text = amount.toLocaleString('en-US',
{
style: 'decimal',
minimumIntegerDigits: 3,
useGrouping: false
});
This will produce the value of "005" for text. You can also use the toLocaleString function of Number to pad zeros to the right side of the decimal point.
var amount = 5;
var text = amount.toLocaleString('en-US',
{
style: 'decimal',
minimumFractionDigits: 2,
useGrouping: false
});
This will produce the value of "5.00" for text. Change useGrouping to true to use comma separators for thousands.
Note that using toLocaleString() with locales and options arguments is standardized separately in ECMA-402, not in ECMAScript. As of today, some browsers only implement basic support, i.e. toLocaleString() may ignore any arguments.
Complete Example

If the fill number is known in advance not to exceed a certain value, there's another way to do this with no loops:
var fillZeroes = "00000000000000000000"; // max number of zero fill ever asked for in global
function zeroFill(number, width) {
// make sure it's a string
var input = number + "";
var prefix = "";
if (input.charAt(0) === '-') {
prefix = "-";
input = input.slice(1);
--width;
}
var fillAmt = Math.max(width - input.length, 0);
return prefix + fillZeroes.slice(0, fillAmt) + input;
}
Test cases here: http://jsfiddle.net/jfriend00/N87mZ/

The quick and dirty way:
y = (new Array(count + 1 - x.toString().length)).join('0') + x;
For x = 5 and count = 6 you'll have y = "000005"

Here's a quick function I came up with to do the job. If anyone has a simpler approach, feel free to share!
function zerofill(number, length) {
// Setup
var result = number.toString();
var pad = length - result.length;
while(pad > 0) {
result = '0' + result;
pad--;
}
return result;
}

ECMAScript 2017:
use padStart or padEnd
'abc'.padStart(10); // " abc"
'abc'.padStart(10, "foo"); // "foofoofabc"
'abc'.padStart(6,"123465"); // "123abc"
More info:
https://github.com/tc39/proposal-string-pad-start-end
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/padStart

I often use this construct for doing ad-hoc padding of some value n, known to be a positive, decimal:
(offset + n + '').substr(1);
Where offset is 10^^digits.
E.g., padding to 5 digits, where n = 123:
(1e5 + 123 + '').substr(1); // => 00123
The hexadecimal version of this is slightly more verbose:
(0x100000 + 0x123).toString(16).substr(1); // => 00123
Note 1: I like #profitehlolz's solution as well, which is the string version of this, using slice()'s nifty negative-index feature.

I really don't know why, but no one did it in the most obvious way. Here it's my implementation.
Function:
/** Pad a number with 0 on the left */
function zeroPad(number, digits) {
var num = number+"";
while(num.length < digits){
num='0'+num;
}
return num;
}
Prototype:
Number.prototype.zeroPad=function(digits){
var num=this+"";
while(num.length < digits){
num='0'+num;
}
return(num);
};
Very straightforward, I can't see any way how this can be any simpler. For some reason I've seem many times here on SO, people just try to avoid 'for' and 'while' loops at any cost. Using regex will probably cost way more cycles for such a trivial 8 digit padding.

In all modern browsers you can use
numberStr.padStart(numberLength, "0");
function zeroFill(num, numLength) {
var numberStr = num.toString();
return numberStr.padStart(numLength, "0");
}
var numbers = [0, 1, 12, 123, 1234, 12345];
numbers.forEach(
function(num) {
var numString = num.toString();
var paddedNum = zeroFill(numString, 5);
console.log(paddedNum);
}
);
Here is the MDN reference https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/padStart

I use this snippet to get a five-digits representation:
(value+100000).toString().slice(-5) // "00123" with value=123

The power of Math!
x = integer to pad
y = number of zeroes to pad
function zeroPad(x, y)
{
y = Math.max(y-1,0);
var n = (x / Math.pow(10,y)).toFixed(y);
return n.replace('.','');
}

This is the ES6 solution.
function pad(num, len) {
return '0'.repeat(len - num.toString().length) + num;
}
alert(pad(1234,6));

Not that this question needs more answers, but I thought I would add the simple lodash version of this.
_.padLeft(number, 6, '0')

I didn't see anyone point out the fact that when you use String.prototype.substr() with a negative number it counts from the right.
A one liner solution to the OP's question, a 6-digit zerofilled representation of the number 5, is:
console.log(("00000000" + 5).substr(-6));
Generalizing we'll get:
function pad(num, len) { return ("00000000" + num).substr(-len) };
console.log(pad(5, 6));
console.log(pad(45, 6));
console.log(pad(345, 6));
console.log(pad(2345, 6));
console.log(pad(12345, 6));

Don't reinvent the wheel; use underscore string:
jsFiddle
var numToPad = '5';
alert(_.str.pad(numToPad, 6, '0')); // Yields: '000005'

After a, long, long time of testing 15 different functions/methods found in this questions answers, I now know which is the best (the most versatile and quickest).
I took 15 functions/methods from the answers to this question and made a script to measure the time taken to execute 100 pads. Each pad would pad the number 9 with 2000 zeros. This may seem excessive, and it is, but it gives you a good idea about the scaling of the functions.
The code I used can be found here:
https://gist.github.com/NextToNothing/6325915
Feel free to modify and test the code yourself.
In order to get the most versatile method, you have to use a loop. This is because with very large numbers others are likely to fail, whereas, this will succeed.
So, which loop to use? Well, that would be a while loop. A for loop is still fast, but a while loop is just slightly quicker(a couple of ms) - and cleaner.
Answers like those by Wilco, Aleksandar Toplek or Vitim.us will do the job perfectly.
Personally, I tried a different approach. I tried to use a recursive function to pad the string/number. It worked out better than methods joining an array but, still, didn't work as quick as a for loop.
My function is:
function pad(str, max, padder) {
padder = typeof padder === "undefined" ? "0" : padder;
return str.toString().length < max ? pad(padder.toString() + str, max, padder) : str;
}
You can use my function with, or without, setting the padding variable. So like this:
pad(1, 3); // Returns '001'
// - Or -
pad(1, 3, "x"); // Returns 'xx1'
Personally, after my tests, I would use a method with a while loop, like Aleksandar Toplek or Vitim.us. However, I would modify it slightly so that you are able to set the padding string.
So, I would use this code:
function padLeft(str, len, pad) {
pad = typeof pad === "undefined" ? "0" : pad + "";
str = str + "";
while(str.length < len) {
str = pad + str;
}
return str;
}
// Usage
padLeft(1, 3); // Returns '001'
// - Or -
padLeft(1, 3, "x"); // Returns 'xx1'
You could also use it as a prototype function, by using this code:
Number.prototype.padLeft = function(len, pad) {
pad = typeof pad === "undefined" ? "0" : pad + "";
var str = this + "";
while(str.length < len) {
str = pad + str;
}
return str;
}
// Usage
var num = 1;
num.padLeft(3); // Returns '001'
// - Or -
num.padLeft(3, "x"); // Returns 'xx1'

First parameter is any real number, second parameter is a positive integer specifying the minimum number of digits to the left of the decimal point and third parameter is an optional positive integer specifying the number if digits to the right of the decimal point.
function zPad(n, l, r){
return(a=String(n).match(/(^-?)(\d*)\.?(\d*)/))?a[1]+(Array(l).join(0)+a[2]).slice(-Math.max(l,a[2].length))+('undefined'!==typeof r?(0<r?'.':'')+(a[3]+Array(r+1).join(0)).slice(0,r):a[3]?'.'+a[3]:''):0
}
so
zPad(6, 2) === '06'
zPad(-6, 2) === '-06'
zPad(600.2, 2) === '600.2'
zPad(-600, 2) === '-600'
zPad(6.2, 3) === '006.2'
zPad(-6.2, 3) === '-006.2'
zPad(6.2, 3, 0) === '006'
zPad(6, 2, 3) === '06.000'
zPad(600.2, 2, 3) === '600.200'
zPad(-600.1499, 2, 3) === '-600.149'

The latest way to do this is much simpler:
var number = 2
number.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumIntegerDigits:2})
output: "02"

Just another solution, but I think it's more legible.
function zeroFill(text, size)
{
while (text.length < size){
text = "0" + text;
}
return text;
}

This one is less native, but may be the fastest...
zeroPad = function (num, count) {
var pad = (num + '').length - count;
while(--pad > -1) {
num = '0' + num;
}
return num;
};

My solution
Number.prototype.PadLeft = function (length, digit) {
var str = '' + this;
while (str.length < length) {
str = (digit || '0') + str;
}
return str;
};
Usage
var a = 567.25;
a.PadLeft(10); // 0000567.25
var b = 567.25;
b.PadLeft(20, '2'); // 22222222222222567.25

With ES6+ JavaScript:
You can "zerofill a number" with something like the following function:
/**
* #param number The number
* #param minLength Minimal length for your string with leading zeroes
* #return Your formatted string
*/
function zerofill(nb, minLength) {
// Convert your number to string.
let nb2Str = nb.toString()
// Guess the number of zeroes you will have to write.
let nbZeroes = Math.max(0, minLength - nb2Str.length)
// Compute your result.
return `${ '0'.repeat(nbZeroes) }${ nb2Str }`
}
console.log(zerofill(5, 6)) // Displays "000005"
With ES2017+:
/**
* #param number The number
* #param minLength Minimal length for your string with leading zeroes
* #return Your formatted string
*/
const zerofill = (nb, minLength) => nb.toString().padStart(minLength, '0')
console.log(zerofill(5, 6)) // Displays "000005"

Use recursion:
function padZero(s, n) {
s = s.toString(); // In case someone passes a number
return s.length >= n ? s : padZero('0' + s, n);
}

Some monkeypatching also works
String.prototype.padLeft = function (n, c) {
if (isNaN(n))
return null;
c = c || "0";
return (new Array(n).join(c).substring(0, this.length-n)) + this;
};
var paddedValue = "123".padLeft(6); // returns "000123"
var otherPadded = "TEXT".padLeft(8, " "); // returns " TEXT"

function pad(toPad, padChar, length){
return (String(toPad).length < length)
? new Array(length - String(toPad).length + 1).join(padChar) + String(toPad)
: toPad;
}
pad(5, 0, 6) = 000005
pad('10', 0, 2) = 10 // don't pad if not necessary
pad('S', 'O', 2) = SO
...etc.
Cheers